Oakland is a large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 430,553 people and 116 associated neighborhoods, Oakland is the eighth largest community in California. Much of the housing stock in Oakland was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Housing costs in Oakland are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.
Also of interest is that Oakland has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Of important note, Oakland is also a city of artists. Oakland has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Oakland’s character.
A relatively large number of people in Oakland telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 20.30% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Oakland is one of the most attractive larger cities for people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Oakland is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.
Oakland is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
In Oakland, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.07 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.
Oakland, like many big cities in America, has a public transportation system, but the citizens of Oakland are lucky because theirs is one of the most extensive and widely used. Many commuters choose to leave their cars at home and instead use the subway to get to and from work. In fact, for some people it is feasible to forgo car ownership entirely, avoiding the cost and headache of driving in heavy traffic. The benefits include reduced air pollution and load on the road network.
The education level of Oakland ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Oakland, 48.41% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
The per capita income in Oakland in 2022 was $56,628, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $226,512 for a family of four. However, Oakland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Oakland is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Oakland home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oakland residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Oakland also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.62% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Oakland include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.
In addition, Oakland has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (26.29%).
The most common language spoken in Oakland is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.